The Essence of Blasé
by Vialana
Summary: Andrew/Harry :: Not exactly a normal first meeting, but what in Andrew's life is normal anyway?
1. Chapter 1

_Another FFA response from me that you can also find on "Twisting the Hellmouth". _

_There are slashy hints, but no other reason for the rating.The story is complete as is, but I may continue on if the urge arises. I kind of like the scenario. Anyway, tell me what you think and if I should continue._

_Enjoy._

**The Essence of Blasé**

To say Andrew was surprised to have a teenaged boy fall on top of him in the middle of a suburban street in Surrey was akin to saying eating at home on Thursdays meant Dawn was sure to give you food poisoning. Neither was exactly a pleasant experience, but at least having a boy fall on him didn't mean Andrew had to get his stomach pumped. Again. In fact, besides the superficial bruising and scrapes, he was perfectly fine. This wasn't to say the boy was, however.

"Are you all right?" Andrew blinked at the question. The boy was looking worried, green eyes wide behind large frames.

_They're kinda sparkly and nice. Though that could just be the light on the lenses._

It was probably at that point he should have suspected a possible concussion, but nothing else seemed strange in his head and he'd barely bumped it anyway.

Instead of asking for an ambulance, or a phone to call up Giles, Andrew nodded in response to the question. "I should ask you that," he argued. "You were the one falling through the air." He frowned. "Or were you flying. If you were flying you kinda botched it, but even if you did botch it flying, it would still be totally cool, 'cause, you know, _flying_."

And now the boy was giving him that look, the one he always got from Buffy and Dawn and, well, everyone. Andrew couldn't help it, babbling came naturally to him. And was it so wrong to be enthusiastic and curious all the time? You don't see them yelling at cats to be quiet and to stop nosing around in things and being as cute and curious as Andrew was.

"Uh, anyway, thanks for breaking my fall." The comment snapped him out of his thoughts. It wasn't often he got thanked for anything.

"Huh, oh, it was my pleasure."

Again with the look. So he wasn't so great in situations like this. He'd like to see Buffy do better talking to a cute guy sitting on her chest after just falling from the sky on top of her.

_Well, for a start, she probably wouldn't let him sit on her chest at all, much less for this long. Not that he's all that heavy or anything, or that it's a completely unpleasant situation ... Maybe I do have a concussion._

"Um," Andrew blushed, trying to think how to phrase it so he didn't sound like a _complete_ idiot. "Could you, kinda, get off me?"

"Oh!" The boy jumped off, perhaps not realising their unusual position himself at first. He looked down as he blushed, messy black hair falling in front of his face, though his eyes peered earnestly at Andrew through the fringe. "I'm sorry. Are you all right? Did I hurt you in any way?"

Andrew shook his head and winced at the ache in his chest as he got up. "Nothing serious, I'm probably just going to be a purple-chested monster tomorrow."

The boy chuckled. "Well you could always don an eye-patch and paint the rest of your body purple and go around eating people."

Andrew laughed at that. "That sounds like fun, but I'm likely to be killed if I do that at my house. I live with some very strange and uncultured people."

"I know the feeling." The boy tilted his head to the side. "What's your name anyway?"

"Andrew Wells." He held out his hand.

"Harry Potter." The boy shook it. "Well, I'd best be off. My relatives don't know I'm out here. I was waiting for a friend of mine to show up, but it looks like he couldn't make it after all."

Andrew's smile fell a little. "That's a shame. Well it was nice meeting you."

"Same." Harry gathered up a strange cloak and ... a broom? What was he doing with that, and how did Andrew not notice either of them until now?

_Well, the cute scrawny boy sitting on top of you might have had something to do with that._

"Maybe I'll see you around," Harry offered.

_Maybe? Try definitely._

"Well I live in the neighbourhood," Andrew shrugged, appearing nonchalant. "So if you ever need someone to catch you again, just yell. Like Jimmy Olsen, or Lois Lane, or something."

Harry laughed. "I'll be sure to remember that."

Andrew watched him trot down the street a ways and sighed. Then he finally realised what the oddest part about that entire situation was.

"Harry," he called out. The boy turned around. "Just what _were_ you doing earlier before you fell?"

He could see the wide grin even from this distance. "Flying," Harry called back before waving and continuing down the street.

He pouted. "Fine, don't tell me."

Harry finally disappeared from view and Andrew sighed, trying to think just what exactly he had been doing before Harry had dropped in unexpectedly. Drawing a blank, he just continued the way he was going before, hoping he'd remember as he walked. It probably wasn't all that important if he could forget it so easily. And, on the plus side, that meant he could think about Harry some more.

Harry Potter. The name sounded familiar ... maybe he'd ask Giles when he got back to Council HQ. Giles knew everything. Harry seemed like a fairly nice guy after all. And handsome too, like one of those teenage 'normal guy' heroes in a fantasy novel. This whole situation was nothing but goodness.

Plus, it would do him good to hang around someone who wasn't hounded by the forces of darkness 24/7.


	2. Chapter 2

_As can be seen, I have decided to continue this story, though it still won't be a very long one, probably only one more chapter after this. I __have to say I like the first part better than this chapter, but maybe you guys will have different opinions. _

_Anyway, enjoy._

* * *

It was midnight, freezing and Andrew was sitting on a hard wooden bench in a deserted park with nothing but a flickering candle on the ground and a bronze dagger tucked in his pocket. This was not the stupidest situation he'd found himself in, though it came close. 

"I hate being bait," he muttered.

The reason for this night time excursion was a Corlaq demon terrorising the neighbourhood - though honestly it was hard to tell with such stuck-up, sneering neighbours. And the way Corlaq demons terrorise was quite different to the way other demons terrorised. Corlaq demons fed off emotions, but, like with normal food, they liked different flavours of emotions. Most Corlaq demons tended to like the same combinations of emotions - fear and despair, for example, but this one either had a sick sense of humour, or had strange taste.

This Corlaq enjoyed sneaking up on unsuspecting humans while at their happiest and then show itself and scare the living daylights out of them. It had interrupted quite a few romantic dates and family picnics this way and had landed quite a few humans in the hospital as a result. Corlaq demons weren't much of a threat as they didn't really feed in the normal way or affect humans all that much. Most didn't even realise when a Corlaq was feeding off them.

It was an annoyance, basically, and so Andrew got stuck dealing with it. And got stuck with one other thing.

"Shut up about it, I'm not exactly thrilled to be here either."

Seeing the look on Dawn's face, Andrew knew it wouldn't be wise to continue with his line of whining. She too had a dagger tucked away somewhere, but she'd been smart enough to bring another jacket. Andrew glared at the girl slumped next to him, cursing her for her foresight. She should be just as miserable as him. So much for summer: the nights were just as cold as midday winter. They had been pretending to be on a date all night and nothing had happened. They were both starting to get irritable.

"I knew Buffy should have done this," Dawn muttered darkly as she got up and kicked at an upraised tree root, finally tired of doing nothing but sitting for hours. "She and Xander have been so sickening lately; they would have been the perfect victims. But no, she had to go off to Ireland for the week. Bet it was just an excuse for her and Xander to get all smoochie without everyone else around."

"What about me?" Andrew cut in. "I don't even like ..." he swallowed as he saw the interested look Dawn was sending his way and changed what he was about to say, "... parks."

"Sure." Dawn's smile was far too knowing for Andrew's liking and he scowled, his irritation growing as he realised that did nothing but cause her expression to become even more knowing.

_Stupid smarty-pants Dawn, just because she caught me doing that ... thing with the ... thing doesn't mean anything! _

"You're thinking about that time I caught you in drag acting out that scene from Star Something-or-other with Mr. Gordo, aren't you?"

"Pft, of course not," Andrew sneered, hoping the darkness could hide his blush. "And it was a scene from Velvet Goldmine, so 1, not _exactly_ drag and 2, nothing 'Star' related, okay?"

Dawn rolled her eyes at his protesting. "Hey, I know what I saw and there was makeup involved. And the movie still has a weird name. Sounds like an Austin Powers movie."

Andrew let the scenario of an Austin Powers Velvet Goldmine parody run through his mind for a moment before shaking his head and glaring at Dawn. "I don't make fun of your choice in movies, so why do you always do that to me?"

"Because your movies are lame."

"You have no taste."

"Says the boy who dances in drag."

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not times infinity, so there." Andrew stuck out his tongue at Dawn, whose eyes should have been falling from her sockets by now with the amount of times she'd rolled them that night.

"Whatever."

Andrew took that as an indication of victory and did a happy dance in his mind.

They continued in a bored/smug silence for a few more minutes before Dawn got fed up again and started pacing. The girl had no patience; Andrew was quite content to sit and not move so that the wind couldn't bite at any slightly warm parts of his body.

"When the hell is this stupid demon gonna come and suck our feelings out?" The poor tree was probably going to die with the treatment Dawn was giving its roots.

"Maybe you're doing something wrong," Andrew suggested from his slightly-less than comfortable seat. The wind had picked up and he hated Dawn for her jacket again.

Dawn turned on him with a glare. "Me? Hello, I happen to be an expert in being a victim for demons."

"Some expert," Andrew snorted. "Can't even get a Corlaq demon to attack you right."

"Gah! You are so infuriating! And stupid. And did I mention moronic?"

"You know attacking others is a sign that you're unhappy with yourself. Is there something you want to talk about, Dawn-meister?"

"Don't call me that, you're not allowed."

"Is that because Xander's the only one allowed to call you that? Having a little trouble accepting his and Buffy's new smoochie-fest?"

Dawn looked very peeved all of a sudden and Andrew had a sinking feeling he shouldn't have taken that extra step. "Oh like you're one to talk about former crushes - operative word being _former_ there."

He sat up completely at the implication and glared at Dawn. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You tell me; after all, I wasn't the one following a sociopathic murderer around like a puppy-dog."

Their argument was suddenly not as fun any more. "You have no idea what you're talking about," he growled, "and I suggest you leave that can of worms unopened."

"Oh yeah?" Dawn was a little taken aback by Andrew's sudden appearance of a backbone, but wasn't going to give up now.

"Yeah."

Luckily for them, the argument was halted before it could become an all-out brawl. A quick-moving body suddenly sprung through the tangle of bushes near the bench they'd camped out by and tumbled headlong into the two of them. Dawn, standing up as she was, was able to move out of the way of the human-sized projectile, but Andrew wasn't so lucky.

The bench rattled a little with the sudden impact of the second body and Andrew was a little sore from attempting to catch the other person by reflex.

"What the hell was that?" Dawn turned her attention to the hole in the bushes. "Pale guy stuck in the fifties at ten o'clock. Make sure he's okay," she said over her shoulder as she moved to intercept the vampire.

Andrew was a little concerned about Dawn taking on the vampire by herself, but along with the extra jacket she'd apparently packed a stake and holy water. A groan coming from his lap turned his attention back to the vampire's former prey.

"You okay there?"

"Not sure," he heard in grumbled reply. "Could have sworn I saw a vampire, so I think not."

"Oh don't worry, he'll be dust soon."

"Great." The person shifted around so that they weren't so uncomfortable - or sitting in Andrew's lap any more. When the person looked up, Andrew noticed a very familiar face instead of the stranger's face he was expecting.

_No wonder I was getting such a sense of déjà vu._

Harry Potter blushed as he looked upon the face of his saviour. "Hi again," he mumbled. "You seem to be in the habit of saving me when I need it. Thanks."

"No problem." Embarrassment must be contagious, because Andrew started blushing as well.

"So, um, you're in a park." Andrew blinked at the non sequitur and Harry quickly added, "At midnight. It's a little odd."

"Ah, yes, I suppose it is, but not as odd as some things." Andrew was having trouble keeping his train of thought. "I'm not always an odd person, just a little strange sometimes, but I don't always hang out in park at midnight, just ... sometimes." And he was babbling again. Harry was watching him, bemused, and perhaps a little amusedly as well. "Um, so ..."

The two sat in awkward silence avoiding each others gazes until—

"Ugh! I hate vamp dust! It's gonna take me ages to brush this off."

Dawn's voice coming from nearby following the sound of an unearthly scream interrupted their non-moment.

"Is that your girlfriend?" Andrew would have paid more attention to the disappointment he heard in Harry's voice, had he not just heard one of the most horrific questions in existence. It was right up there with "What's that sound coming from the basement?" and "How do you like your eggs?"

(Don't ever ask about either, they involve long traumatising stories that should never be visited upon the human ear.)

"Ew!" Andrew shuddered. "I did not just hear that."

"Oh, so you two are just ..."

"We're just nothing, She's ... Dawn." Andrew managed to hold back another shudder, his mind still caught up in the horrific images from the third most frightening question he'd ever been asked.

"Were you talking about me behind my back again?" Dawn stepped through the bushes just then, still brushing vampire remains off her jacket.

"Why would I bother talking about _you_ when there are far more interesting people in the world?"

"Who? Like you?" Dawn asked sardonically. "Whatever, let's walk him home and get out of here. I'm not staying out any longer. We're obviously not gonna find that stupid ... uh, thing, tonight." Dawn glanced warily at Harry, who was only paying the barest attention to her words.

Andrew's expression fell a little as he realised his second encounter with Harry would also be a short one. "Oh, right, guess we should do that. Though, you know," Andrew started as a sudden thought occurred to him, "you could go on home, I could walk Harry home myself."

"I don't really want to be a bother," Harry piped up.

Dawn glanced suspiciously between the two of them before smirking. "No deal. You two lovebirds need a chaperone. Come on." She grabbed both Harry's and Andrew's arm and pulled them up from the bench, ignoring the embarrassed looks the two sent each other. Or probably just storing them away for later blackmail material.

Once they were on their way towards Harry's house, Dawn skipped a few metres ahead to give them a little room to talk alone. She wasn't totally evil after all, just a little evil. Even so, Andrew and Harry did little more than make awkward small talk about the weather, the town, whether Andrew and his housemates were fitting in all right, whether or not the man chasing after Harry was really a vampire ... little unimportant things that had them both a little frustrated and relieved.

Andrew was greatly disappointed when Harry pointed out his house among the other very similar houses in the street they'd been walking down. Dawn waited a few houses down while Andrew walked Harry to his yard.

"Um, thanks for helping me again," Harry said as they paused at his front yard.

"I like helping you. People. I like helping people, and you too." Harry chuckled at the babbling and Andrew felt a little bit better about it. "Um, so now that I know where you live, maybe I'll come visit you some day."

"I'd like that." Harry's face fell a little as he continued. "Though my family might not. They're not too fond of having my friends hanging around. But I don't really care what they think," he added when he noticed Andrew's let-down expression.

"I'll come visit soon then," Andrew promised.

"Great. Guess I'll see you then."

"Yeah."

Harry headed slowly towards his house, pulling out a set of keys. He waved at Andrew just before he went inside and locked the door behind him.

Andrew stared at the house a moment longer before heading back towards Dawn, who was smirking.

"Andrew's got a boyfriend," she sung as they headed home.

Even as Andrew told her to shut up, he didn't really mean it. It had a nice ring to it.


	3. Chapter 3

_It has been a while since the last update for this, but I thought I should finally finish it._

_This story was only meant to be a one-shot, but look how well that turned out. Don't expect any more chapters from this, I doubt I'd be able to do anything more with it, though if anyone wants to continue on with the plot in a new story, feel free._

_Hope you all enjoy the conclusion to this story._

* * *

It was nearing September and Andrew had barely spent three hours at a time with Harry. 

They'd only met a month before and events had conspired to keep the two apart.

The first time Andrew had knocked on Harry's door to ask him out for a walk — in daylight — or something, a huge man had answered and growled furiously when he asked for Harry. He claimed no boy by that name lived there then slammed the door in Andrew's face. Quite surprised by this, Andrew stood on the stoop for a few minutes. He was sure this was Harry's house, though it was possible he'd gotten it wrong. It had been quite dark when he'd been there last.

He was walking slowly down the garden path to the pavement when he'd heard a 'psst!' Curiously, he turned back around to see Harry ducking around the side of the house. He was filthy, dressed in old baggy clothes that were ripped and covered in dirt and grass. He held a set of pruning shears in one hand and there were tiny leaves stuck to his gloves.

Even all sweaty and dirty, Andrew thought he looked adorable. He had enough presence of mind not to say this aloud though.

"Bad timing?" he asked instead.

Harry blushed — which Andrew still thought was the cutest sight ever — and nodded. "Yeah. Sorry about Uncle Vernon, he's always like that. Plus, he doesn't like me, or my friends."

"Sorry to hear that." They stared at each other for a moment, before Andrew cleared his throat and said, "So, uh, you're gardening?"

"Yeah … uh, well, I'm doing chores."

"Oh, that'll probably take a while, won't it?" Andrew looked crestfallen.

"Probably." Harry looked just as upset.

"I wanted to see if you'd take a walk with me, maybe show me the neighbourhood a little better, but maybe we can do that another time."

"That'd be great, but I'm not sure if my aunt and uncle would let me."

"Oh. Well, why don't I help you out, then?" Andrew grinned as if this were the most brilliant idea he'd ever had.

"Really? You want to help?" Harry looked incredulous. "It's not very fun."

"Probably not, but we could talk, or something and the work would go a lot faster and we could maybe turn it into a competition or something. I mean, if you want to, of course."

Harry grinned and Andrew knew he was staring, but couldn't help it. "I'd love that, thanks," Harry replied and Andrew silently cheered.

And so their first 'date' was spent weeding Harry's back garden. It was one of the best dates either of them had ever had.

* * *

Sometimes Andrew would be lucky enough to ring the Dursley's doorbell and have Harry answer it. His Aunt had scowled at him when she had first met him, but Harry had been inside and caught sight of him from the hallway, dashing outside before Petunia could say anything against it. Andrew had even met Harry's cousin Dudley. He wasn't sure it was possible for a human to hold that sort of shape. He'd had a long look in Giles' library after that memorable meeting. He was still keeping an eye out for descriptions of demons that matched Harry's cousin. 

They'd never walked for long, just around the area, down to the local shop and the main roads and such. Little Whining wasn't a very exciting place to live, but then, sometimes non-exciting was a good thing. Apart from their first two meetings, nothing unusual had happened to Andrew and Harry and both were grateful for it.

Still, it was the last weekend of August and Harry had told Andrew he was free for the entire Saturday. Andrew wanted to do something special. Harry was going away to boarding school in a few days and this was likely the last chance he'd get to see him for months. For the life of him though, he couldn't think of anything to do.

"Why don't you just take him for dinner and a movie then?" Dawn had finally said, exasperated by his frantic pacing and thinking aloud the night before 'The Big Date'.

Dinner and a movie. Kinda typical, but a classic. And they'd never done anything like that yet. It was always little meetings, pre-date things. Hell, they hadn't even kissed yet.

They hadn't kissed. Hadn't really dated … What if Harry thought they were just friends? What if Andrew was being too subtle in his intentions? What if——?

"For god's sake Andrew!" Dawn had interrupted his ramblings again. "It's not big deal. If he doesn't like you, then he doesn't - it's not the end of the world. You'll both be embarrassed and have a chuckle about it, but he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who'd be cruel about a misread situation. Take a risk and go check the paper for movie times."

Too scared to risk Dawn's wrath again, Andrew did exactly that.

* * *

They'd taken the bus into London, sitting next to each other in awkward silence. They'd greeted each other, made comments on the weather and their health then said nothing until the bus reached its destination - and then it was only to comment on which way they should go to find the cinemas and a place for lunch. 

Andrew didn't remember much of the movie. Harry had chosen, though neither of them had cared much about what was playing. Maybe the movie had been a bad idea. But it had kept them occupied for two hours. Harry seemed to enjoy it well enough. Andrew should have known: he spent more time watching his companion than the screen. Harry had noticed a few times and they'd both blushed and turned back to the screen. Anyone watching would have been disgusted by the picture they made. It was far too cute and sentimental.

They walked around afterwards, looking for interesting places to eat.

The movie had a positive outcome though: it had broken the ice enough that they were chatting amicably about anything that popped into their heads. Andrew was quite amused by some of the stories Harry told about boarding school life. He would have liked to have met Ron and Hermione — Harry's face brightened at the mere thought of his two best friends. In turn, Andrew talked about his house-mates: Buffy and Xander and their disgustingly happy relationship; his and Dawn's strange friendship; and Giles and his books and fatherly ways. A strange family, they were, but no stranger than the rest of his life had been. He only mentioned his life before England briefly, talking about general things, like living in America. He was certain Harry didn't tell him everything about his life either.

"What about that place?" Andrew asked as they came to a natural lull in the conversation.

"What place?" Harry looked around. They'd been walking for at least an hour and the two boys were getting more than a little hungry.

"That place, the pub. It looks kinda cool."

"Uh …" Andrew looked at Harry, who was a little pale. "Pub?"

"You can still get in to eat, can't you?"

"But … pub?"

"Yeah." Andrew glanced at his companion before pointing down the road. "The Leaky Cauldron. It's got a cool name. Might as well have a look and see what it's like. I bet Willow would get a kick out of the name — she's Buffy and Xander's friend who I mentioned, the one living in Brazil with her girlfriend. I bet Dawn would love it too."

"Uh, Andrew, I'm not sure we should. I don't want to get in trouble, just in case."

Andrew frowned. "Oh, okay. That would be kinda bad. Let's keep looking then."

"Okay."

Harry seemed to relax once they'd left the pub far behind. Andrew put it behind him for now, jumping enthusiastically into another conversation. But he was sure to file it away to think about later.

* * *

They didn't get back until near dusk. 

Andrew walked Harry home. They were silent, but it was a comfortable quiet, not the awkwardness of the morning bus ride. It was cold, so they walked a little closer together than was usual. At least, that's what they told themselves.

The Dursleys weren't home, having taken advantage of Harry's absence to have a family day out without him around to mess things up, or destroy the house while they were gone.

Harry invited Andrew in, but they both knew he couldn't stay long. He was expected back at his house soon and Harry's relatives could come back at any time.

"Thank you for the outing," Harry said as they both entered the house.

"I had fun," Andrew said.

"Me too," Harry agreed, with an endearing smile. "It was the most fun I've had all holidays. I really like having you around Andrew." He started to mumble as he said that and blushed.

"Me too," Andrew parroted back breathlessly. He was more nervous now than he'd been all day.

As though sensing his companion's unease, Harry looked at him and took a step closer. "Andrew …" he trailed off, looking down.

Andrew steeled himself and took a step closer as well, so they were barely separated. Harry looked up again inquisitively, but before he could ask anything Andrew bent to place a kiss on Harry's lips.

They froze in that position, neither moving enough to break the spell of that chaste contact. But, a moment later, they both drew back, eyes wide and cheeks flushed with emotion.

Andrew had nothing to say for once. It had been a perfect kiss, better than he'd imagined all these weeks of knowing and wanting the other boy. Harry licked his lips and looked down, blushing furiously, but he was smiling as he looked back up and Andrew smiled back in relief, seeing the expression.

"Do … do you like owls?" Harry asked after they'd stared at each other for quite a few minutes.

That wasn't exactly the question Andrew had been expecting. "Uh, I guess so?"

Harry blushed again, realising how strange his question had been. "I mean, my school, they have this strange postage system. They, uh, train owls to take letters to other people."

"Like carrier pigeons?" Andrew was trying to think of where he'd come across the idea of using owls for post. He knew it sounded so familiar.

"Yeah, kinda, only much better trained. They don't even need an address, just a person."

"That is well trained … wait." It clicked where he'd heard about owl post before. "You're a wizard!"

Harry took a step back. "What?"

"It all makes sense now: the broom, flying, that strange cloak, the fact you knew about vampires, owl post." Andrew grinned and Harry relaxed a little at the friendly expression. "That's so cool! Willow's like a witch, but her magic is totally different and Giles is super powerful too, but I don't know if he's a wizard like you are or like Willow — only he'd be a warlock or something, not a witch. Oh, and I wonder if I could learn it too, cause I have some powers, but I mostly just raise demons — but not any more, or only if it's for a good reason, since I'm not really evil any more. And I wonder if Jonathan was a wizard like you … Oh! Does that mean you go to Hogwarts? I've heard so much about that place——"

Harry did the only thing he could do in that situation and shut Andrew up by covering his mouth, with his own. A few noises were swallowed up, but soon stopped as Andrew clicked onto the situation. His hands came up to rest on Harry's waist and he drew the other boy closer, moving his lips and kissing back.

Really, it was the perfect end to one of the best summers either of them had ever experienced.


End file.
